Archive | March, 2012

Counting Plates (Part One)

Tweet The restaurant industry has its own jargon.  It may also have its own language.  We have the titles we give positions and then we have the nicknames we use.  Every back of the house employee in America has learned to answer to the nickname “ahneeda.” Not familiar with that name? Stop and count how [...]

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How To Source Food Locally: A Business Guide To Success

Tweet Local food.  It sounds great on paper, and it may even be the thing restaurant patrons claim they care about most.  But the reality is that restaurants are businesses, and the restaurant business is one of the toughest gigs out there.  Sounding good isn’t going to be enough to justify a rise in food [...]

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Why Buying Scales Will Save You Money

Tweet I’m not telling you anything new when I tell you that inventory control is very important in any restaurant.  But I think it’s surprising just how few restaurants view the use of scales as a way to manage shrink and really control how food product is used.  In fact, scales should be the central [...]

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The Affordable Health Care Act & Restaurants: What To Expect

Tweet Today is the big day – the day the Supreme Court begins hearings on the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act, aka Obamacare. Many want to see the whole thing repealed, many want to see the whole thing left intact, and most aren’t really all that sure what the whole thing entails besides [...]

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Listen To What Customers Aren’t Saying

Tweet Some of you put customer comment cards on your tables and ask that guests fill them out and let you know how you’re doing.  I could put money on the fact that you receive more complaints on those cards than praise.  Unless someone was given absolutely outstanding service or the food was just phenomenally [...]

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Barcraft: How To Fill Your Establishment With Thirsty Geeks

Tweet Superstars you’ve never heard of are playing a professional sport you never knew existed… and video game geeks everywhere are staying home because you decided to show the ball game instead. Some restaurateurs are finally starting to catch on, like Mad Dog in the Fog in San Francisco, and those that do have tapped [...]

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How A Low Flow Valve Can Improve Your Cash Flow (AND Green Cred)

Tweet Your restaurant uses a lot of water.  Between the water you serve your guests, the ice machine, the dish machine, and the sink, any restaurant goes through a lot of water on a daily basis.  I don’t have to tell you how much that water costs you.  I’m sure you’re reminded every time you [...]

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A Glossary of Restaurant Lingo, Slang & Terms

Tweet Here’s one of the most complete guides to restaurant lingo, terms and slang – including some that our readers left in the comment section below. Click these links to jump to a letter to look up a term: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P [...]

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Server Stealing Money

5 Ways Servers Steal Your Money

Tweet A server stealing from their restaurant is nothing new. Each year this happens thousands of times. It is also very seldom reported in the media. Most of these things are handled in house which means that you have no idea if the employee you just hired was fired from their last three jobs for [...]

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Why Food Service Should (And Is) Dictating Agriculture Policy

Tweet You don’t have to be a tree hugger to realize industrial agriculture creates some pretty cruel situations for animals.  “Gestation crates” are a perfect example – a two foot by seven foot cage that is used to confine sows at large pig farms – of ways cutting costs have led to some pretty poor [...]

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